Nonprofit Providing Free and Low-Fee Counseling for Health Care Workers and Others Impacted by COVID-19
Funds Needed to Meet Unprecedented Demand of Free Counseling for Essential Workers and Low-Fee Therapy Services for those with Limited Income
April 28, 2020 | Council for Relationships (CFR) has established the Council Cares for the Community Fund to provide free and low-fee, online and phone counseling to those who have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund is two-fold. The first part is the “Those Who Care for the Community” Initiative that will provide free counseling services to health care providers, first responders, grocery store employees, delivery personnel and other essential workers who have been serving the public since the pandemic’s onset.
The second part of the fund will allow CFR to expand its current low-fee counseling services to respond to an increased demand for little to no-cost mental health services for individuals with lower incomes and those experiencing a recent loss of employment. This expansion of services is needed because individuals in lower income brackets are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
CFR’s low-fee therapy services waitlist has increased by 37 percent since the beginning of April. As a result, CFR’s team of renowned mental health experts has mobilized, reorganized their schedules and adjusted their fee structures to meet the rising low-fee demands and the anticipated requests for free services for essential workers.
For the Initiative to successfully serve the complex needs of these individuals (some who experienced trauma may need more than 20 therapy sessions during and after the pandemic), additional funding from individuals and organizations is critical. To sustain these initiatives throughout the course of and in the aftermath of the pandemic, CFR seeks to raise $100,000 for the Council Cares for the Community Fund, with $50,000 for each initiative.
CFR recently received $10,000 to immediately and rapidly respond to the increased need for mental health services. One $5,000 donor asked that their contribution be specifically dedicated to EMTs, paramedics and nurses, while another donated to express gratitude for the high-quality counseling their family had received from CFR in the past.
“So often people with limited incomes are forced to ignore their mental health needs due to cost concerns,” said the donor. “This has become especially true as a result of COVID-19.”
As the coronavirus continues throughout the spring and is predicted to disrupt lives for months or maybe years to come, people from all backgrounds, ages and income levels are feeling an intense need for therapy like never before. Anxiety and stress related to their health and financial futures is becoming more acute. In a recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation nearly half (45 percent) of adults in the U.S. reported that their mental health has been negatively impacted due to worry and stress over the virus.
“We are painfully aware of the challenges faced by those who are caring for people with the coronavirus and know we can help,” said Council for Relationships CEO Deb D’Arcangelo. “Our new fund will also support an expansion of CFR’s low-fee therapy services to people who cannot afford mental health care but are disproportionately impacted by the current public health and economic crises.”
Individuals and organizations can donate to the Council Cares For The Community Fund at councilforrelationships.org/donate.
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Council for Relationships is a nonprofit organization with an 88-year history of providing exemplary therapy services to all regardless of ability to pay; educating and training clinicians in the family systems approach; and advancing the behavioral health field through research. More than 70 therapists, four psychiatrists and 50 interns annually provide individual, couple and family counseling to more than 5,500 people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. To learn more, visit councilforrelationships.org and follow CFR on Facebook and Twitter.
Media contact: Sharon Gallagher, 610-246-2541, sgallagher@sage-communicaitons.com